Gorillas In Our Midst: big plans, average outcome

The biggest thing you’ll immediately notice about Gorillas In Our Midst is its size. This is one big book.  It’s so much larger than other children’s books that you’ll subconsciously assume that it’s that much better. Gorillas In Our Midst is the story of a young boy who is trying to convince people that gorillas are everywhere, hiding in plain sight.

He tells us that gorillas are masters of disguise and several examples appear on the next couple pages. Three are gorillas in movie theaters wearing clothing, underwater and in various historical references.  The illustrations are of various sizes with some taking up the entire page while others take up just over 25%.

The differing picture sizes work to an extent, but the smaller pictures have too much white space.  I’m all for letting the story breathe, but in this case the story is too simple for all of this blank space. Our child narrator continues around town, pointing out gorillas driving cars, working in the library and letting us know that if we think we’ve seen a gorilla it’s most likely an orangutan.

Gorillas In Our Midst is an average book at best. The illustrations are nice and kids that love monkeys will certainly enjoy that aspect of it.  Kids will also laugh at the ways that the people change into gorillas when their torso is hidden or when people aren’t looking.  But this is not the book that they’ll ask for when they want one read to them for bedtime.

If the book were really clever then all of my objections could easily be overlooked.  However, in the end the little boy narrating reveals that he’s a gorilla too. This works in so many other children’s books, but given everything else that didn’t work or broke up the rhythm of the book it simply made us want to move on.